DES MOINES — The William Penn men’s basketball team had five players in double figures, but could not keep pace with Grand View in a 107-89 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss Wednesday.
WPU (3-9, 2-6 Heart) was the better side in offensive rebounding and ball control, but was outshot 60.6%-42.0% by the Vikings (6-5, 4-5 Heart).
Marcus Bell (Sr., Shreveport, La., Wellness and Recreation) stole the ball in the game’s opening possession and made a three-pointer on the other end as the navy and gold pulled out to a 7-2 edge. The Statesmen continued to lead for a few more minutes before the home squad went ahead.
The visitors trailed for much of the first stanza, but rallied twice to get back on top, including leading 45-44. GVU eventually led 49-47 at halftime.
Manny Hammonds (Fr., Des Moines, Iowa, New Media) knocked down a long ball–one of only six for William Penn on the night–to start the second half, but the Vikings answered immediately and led the rest of the way.
WPU had one final fight left in it, trimming the deficit to five at 77-72 with 9:02 to go, but were unsuccessful in getting any closer.
Both teams corralled 37 rebounds, but the navy and gold were more formidable on the offensive glass with 15 boards that led to a 13-8 edge in second-chance points. The visitors committed 14 turnovers, while GVU had 17 mistakes, and the difference resulted in a 22-10 advantage in points off mistakes.
Unfortunately, the Vikings were quite strong behind the arc at 12-for-24, while WPU was just 6-for-23. Both squads ended up 15-for-20 at the charity stripe.
Jaz Farrell (Sr., Miramar, Fla., Undecided) paced the Statesmen with 21 points, going 9-for-14 from the field. Justin Bradley (Jr., Okinawa, Japan, Biology) headlined the non-starters with 14 points, while Mike Elliott (So., Indianapolis, Ind., Business Management), with 11, and Cam Marshall (So., San Diego, Calif., Sports Management) and Shug Sneed (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Computer Science), with 10 apiece, also reached double digits.
Sneed pulled down nine rebounds as well.
Hammonds and Jayvin Brown (So., Waldorf, Md., Business Management) both finished with seven points, while Brown and Bell tallied four assists each.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Atchison, Kan. Saturday to face Benedictine in Heart action at 4 p.m.
